X10m user experience

[Rocket326]

Hello,
I just returned from a 40 mile/10 day hike in mountainous country with a newly-acquired Suunto x10 military and would like to give back to this fine forum some of my experiences with the watch:

1. The watch performed mostly as advertised. Terrain ranged from heavy rain forest with 70-90% canopy coverage to open mountain desert. For the GPS, I found the x10 tracked better when (later) actively moving through the heavy stuff when I initialized the watch at the beginning of the day with 10 minutes of GPS activation/1 sec updating sitting stationary in camp. Also, if set to 1 minute updates rather than 1 sec, the unit had a tougher time (took longer) determining position while moving through the heavy forest.
2. In lighter foliage through open desert, the watch had no problem tracking GPS even when the face of the watch was pointed at the horizon and arms were in motion. The X10 actually shows 3 to 5 bars of GPS signal when inside a large (wood frame) cabin. The X10 GPS appears to perform slightly better than the Garmin forerunner (a device i've had for many years) but not as sensitive as the 60CSX.
3. There were no problems with moisture accumulation/bezel peeling.
4. Memory: The X10 track memory is large. I managed to record all 40 miles with a combination of 1 sec/1 min/manual updating and used only 5% of the memory.
5. Battery: I had planned to provide daily X10 recharging via a Powerfilm solar charger (can charge 2 AA batteries or provide a USB output or use the AA batteries to supply the USB power...PowerFilm | Portable Solar Chargers) but I learned two things. The X10 doesn't need a daily charge if using 1 minutes or manual updates. In fact, when the solar charger USB port failed at trip day 5 of 10, I used the residual X10 battery power for tracking the remainder of the trip with manual GPS updates every 1/3 to 3/4 mile or so. The second thing I learned is to bring a backup USB charging source as I had based all my power on a USB/AA battery system for the X10 GPS, iPod, UV water sterilizer, headlight, DSLR camera power. Other than the USB port power failure, the flexible Powerfilm did well, is lightweight and recharges two AA eneloop batteries in 3 hours or so -- some clouds still allowed charging. The AAs can recharge the X10 battery a few times via the USB port and Suunto's snake connection cable to the watch.
6. While the X10 has a barometric pressure graph, the Core's display is more useful and appears to better represent changes in pressure. Anyone know what the vertical units are on the X10 pressure display? I believe the horizontal units reflect 6 hours (?) versus the Core's 24.
7. Display: Although I had concerns about the readability of the X10m display when I ordered it (I prefer the look of the watch) -- and later found it is harder to read than the Core military -- the display proved readable in most lighting and even when backlit in the tent at night. This was not a problem.
8. On the downside, the pin holding the strap clasp, or whatever that U-shaped watch strap metal thing is called, sheared. Fortunately it occurred back in the hotel afterwards. The compressible pin seemed to be a standard size, so I replaced it with another at home.
9. The Altimeter/Baro performance seems on par with the Core although there is no Storm Alert, which actually works well on the Core. Would have been handy.

Hopes this helps others considering the purchase of an X10 or X10m.

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